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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26727229">Achilles' Heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all'>sanctuary_for_all</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Partners [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hawaii Five-0 (2010)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Gen, I don't quite know how this happened, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:06:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,379</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26727229</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny and Steve explain to Grace that having a weak spot doesn't always play out the way it does in mythology.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Danny "Danno" Williams &amp; Grace Williams, Steve McGarrett &amp; Grace Williams, Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Partners [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/105629</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>283</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Achilles' Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>There's no Brandon here because this is a flashback fic. At this point in the timeline, Danny and Steve aren't even engaged yet.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Danny knew the minute he caught sight of his daughter that something was wrong. She stalked down the school steps like she was marching into battle, practically vibrating with something that felt like it was going to end in shouting. He glanced over at Steve, a silent question, and his partner tilted his head a little in the way that meant he’d follow Danny’s lead on this one.</p><p>When Grace threw herself into the backseat, forcefully shutting the door behind her, neither of them said anything. If her mood was about some injustice at school, odds were it would burst out of her without needing any help from them. If it was because she was pissed off at them for some reason – let’s be honest, it would be Danny she was pissed off at – it would come out as snappishness.</p><p>When there was no response of <em>any</em> kind, Grace staring out the window in exactly the right way that meant Danny couldn’t get a good look at her expression. After a few minutes stretched into several, Danny and Steve had another silent conversation and Steve started the car. There was a heavy feeling in his gut that was making him start to think this was defcon level bad, and it wouldn’t help anything to have other students or nosy parents watching however this shook out.</p><p>They were about halfway to the house when Grace finally spoke from the backseat. “Our English Lit teacher goes crazy for Greek and Roman myths, even though the students are petitioning to get the curriculum changed so we can hear about more actual Hawaiian myths.”</p><p>Okay, this was not the direction he thought this was going to go. “Is the teacher giving the kids trouble?” Danny asked carefully.</p><p>“Yeah, but we’re used to it.” He glanced back to see her rest her head against the window, the vibrating tension from earlier draining out of her. Now she just sounded miserable, and Danny was about 10 seconds away from having Steve turn the car around so he could shout at this teacher himself. “Today he would not <em>shut up</em> about Achilles and how he died.”</p><p>There’d been a faint waver in her voice on that last bit, which normally would have been enough to activate a full-on protective rage in Danny. But it sounded like she was getting emotional about <em>Achilles</em>, not the teacher’s petty tyranny, and he had no idea what to do with that. All he knew about the guy was that he was a soldier, something was messed up about his heel, and that Brad Pitt had played him in a really forgettable movie. How any of that would lead to Grace being traumatized…</p><p>She lifted her head suddenly, giving him an intense look. “You know how he died, right? He was almost entirely immortal except for his stupid heel. He was this big heroic soldier, but he had this one little tiny weak spot. One shot, and he just <em>died.</em>”</p><p>He still didn’t really know what was going on, but a primal, parental part of his brain was starting to recognize the edge in her voice. He was the son of a firefighter who’d grown up to be a cop, which meant he’d experienced the primal terror of “but Dad, what if something happened to you?” from both directions. She hadn’t brought it up in awhile, but he of all people knew that not talking about something didn’t mean you didn’t feel it. “Grace…”</p><p>But Grace hadn’t let it all out yet. “I thought an Achilles’ heel just meant a big temptation or something. Mom calls chocolate her Achilles' heel all the time, but it’s not going to <em>kill her</em>.” She swallowed. “But the whole time he talked, all I could think about was how crazy you got when I got kidnapped. And the fact that you were both so much more worried about me than you were yourselves when that guy hijacked our Aloha Girls camping trip.”</p><p>Shit. Shit shit shit. He could see the end of this coming like a freight train at this point, and the ragged edge to her voice was causing him actual physical pain. But if she didn’t get it all out now, it’d just well back up later.</p><p>“I’m your Achilles’ heel, aren’t I?” The question was a demand and a plea at the same moment, tears shining in her eyes. “Yours <em>and</em> Uncle Steve’s. You guys are both big and tough and scary, but all anyone has to do to hurt you is go through <em>me</em>.”</p><p>Steve had thankfully stopped the car by this point, pulling over to the side of the road, and Danny already had his door open before he’d processed what he was doing. He practically threw himself in the backseat next to Grace, and though she was trying to argue she already had her seatbelt unbuckled. “I’m serious, Dad. If this is something—”</p><p>The words broke off in a sob as he pulled her into his arms, holding on for dear life. “If anyone even thought about going through you for any reason, I would kill them <em>all</em>,” he breathed. “And if I didn’t quite manage all of them, it would only be because your Uncle Steve had gotten to them first. He and I would both be fine.”</p><p>She pulled back just enough to look at him. “But what if you didn’t get the <em>chance</em>? What if they were there with a gun to my head, and you had to drop yours and they just <em>shot </em>you without—”</p><p>Hell. How long had she been worrying about this? “There’s a lot of things we can do to keep from getting to that point.” He cradled the side of Grace’s face with his hand. “Believe me, Steve and I make sure to do all of them.”</p><p>“And even if we didn’t, there’s no way he’d be there without me,” Steve added quietly, leaning so far around the seat he was practically in the back with them. There was a particular tone to his voice that Danny tended to associate with his black ops days, but somehow in this context it was exactly right. “Ideally, I’d be the one to do the standoff while your dad came around the back, but if we couldn’t make that happen I’d be right next to him. If one of us did get shot, I’d make absolutely certain that bullet wouldn’t be fatal.”</p><p>“Even if it was you that was being shot at?” Grace asked, voice still shaky. Still, she gave Steve the exact same intense look she’d given Danny. “Because I know you wouldn’t let Dad get hurt, but you get shot at a <em>lot</em>. What if we’re <em>both</em> your Achilles’ heel?”</p><p>“Then if that’s the case, I am an Achilles' heel with a gun and very little tolerance for seeing our favorite idiot in pain,” Danny added, his throat tight. “It’s different when your weak spot’s a person, Monkey. Because they love you, and they don’t want you to get hurt any more than you want them to get hurt. You protect each other.”</p><p>“And even if you can’t protect each other physically, you make each other stronger.” Steve reached back, giving Grace’s arm an affectionate squeeze. Danny was so grateful he was there he didn’t have the words for it. “Part of the reason your dad and I always make sure to come home safe is we know you’d get really mad at us if we didn’t.”</p><p>She sniffled. “I really would.”</p><p>“So see, you’re not our Achilles’ heel at all.” Chest tight, Danny pulled her close again. “You’re our heart, just like we’re each other’s heart.”</p><p>“And a person’s heart might be fragile, but you can’t stay alive without it,” Steve added. “So really, you help us.”</p><p>She sniffled again. “I love you guys.”</p><p>“And we love you, too.” Danny let out his own shaky breath, dangerously close to sniffling himself. “Now tell your Uncle Steve to get back here. He’s missing out on some high-quality hugging time.”</p><p>“You really should.” Grace scooted over toward him a little, then even more when Danny scooted back himself. “I have a whole side open and everything.”</p><p>Blinking hard against wet eyes, Steve obliged.  </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Come check out my <a href="https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks">original fiction,</a> my <a href="http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com">blog,</a> or say hi to me on <a href="http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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